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Topic: Time (11/15/12)
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TITLE: Time to re-evaluate | Previous Challenge Entry
By Eddie Snipes
11/20/12 -
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The Holidays are now upon us, and I haven't had time to slow down yet. Now we have various family events for Thanksgiving, and just as we finish these, we'll be heading off for Christmas get-togethers. If we can just get through the holidays, maybe things will slow down. Wait a minute. Didn't I say that last year, too? Isn't January through May the time we try to cram everything in before summer? And summer the time we cram everything in before the fall academic season?
The pattern never changes. It's impossible to find the time for everything we want to do, but how do we fit in the things that are the most important? The things demanding the most attention may not be the things we'll care about at the end of our lives. In fact, most of these time-demanders will have no value next week.
Kids grow up in the blink of an eye and before we know it, life is in the twilight years. Yet the vast majority of our life's investments are in things we won't care about down the road.
Will I care about my favorite TV shows at the end of my life? Will I care next year? Why am I investing the majority of my free time in something that has no lasting value?
Relationships are the only things that matter. When questioned about the greatest commandments, Jesus said we need only to be concerned about the two which fulfill everything that matters in life. Love God. Love people. Loving God is first, for without having a heart grounded in Christ, we won't have the ability to love others as ourselves.
According to the Bible, the love of God is poured into our hearts by His Spirit. He then instructs us to love others with the love He has flowing through us. The way is before us – if we don’t allow valueless things to crowd our path.
"I don't have time for prayer and Bible study." I've heard this said by many a Christian. I've said it myself. Then I realized I was actually saying, "I love other things more."
We must be intentional about relationships, or they won't happen. The heart grows distant when we push relationships aside. Loving God requires a heart that loves spending time with Him. Quiet time is not a checkbox on a list. It's time set aside to get to know someone who has expressed more love toward us than we can comprehend.
When dating, I don't recall saying that I didn't have time to see my future wife. I valued that relationship enough to set everything else aside. The same is true today. Sometimes I have to stop and evaluate what I'm focusing my life upon. The Lord who created me and the people He created are the only things that will pass from this life to the next. Why love what is destined to fall from my life?
Love God and love people. Nothing else matters. Nothing else is truly worthy of the investment of time.
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